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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336871">The Tempus Fugit Affair</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SierraDeCobre/pseuds/SierraDeCobre'>SierraDeCobre</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:55:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,815</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27336871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SierraDeCobre/pseuds/SierraDeCobre</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you may think that you have all the time of the world, sometimes, you don't. -Story by request in the Halloween 2020 challenge from LiveJournal MFU community</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Tempus Fugit Affair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Is that the place?”</p>
<p>“That’s the address you gave me,” Illya shrugged. “How many buildings have been erected in the middle of nowhere lately?”</p>
<p>“Not many, I guess,” Napoleon squinted as he watched the modern structure against the bright sky. “It looks weird, still. Let’s get in, they must be waiting for us.”</p>
<p>The crystal doors glowed as they came near them. “Identification and nature of your visit, please,” the robotic female voice spoke through the intercommunicator. </p>
<p>“Mr. Solo and Mr. Kuryakin,” Napoleon leaned forward. “Dr. Wilcox is expecting us.”</p>
<p>The doors slid open and a path of light on the floor showed them the way. </p>
<p>Illya and Napoleon exchanged glances as they stepped inside. “Follow the yellow brick road,” said Napoleon, taking the lead. “An interesting building, don’t you think?”</p>
<p>“It looks like the entire place is controlled by some kind of artificial intelligence. So far, I’m impressed.”  </p>
<p>The lights guided them through two corridors of white walls, and stopped in front of a glass door that opened before Napoleon could knock. There were already three people in the room, but only one looked like the typical scientist: short hair, glasses, another pair of glasses in the front pocket of his white gown, a clipboard under his arm,  and the excitement of someone who could not wait to show his work to the world. The other two men wore impeccable suits, and they stared at Illya and Napoleon with wary hostility, as only agents fromTHRUSH would. </p>
<p>Napoleon and Illya were not surprised. This was a business meeting in neutral territory. The laboratory was big enough for the four of them, although the doctor’s intentions were still a mystery. </p>
<p>“Ah, I understand that you’re not easy to impress, Mr Kuryakin. I’m flattered.” The man in the white gown held out his hand. Illya bowed slightly, concluding that the man had been monitoring them since they stood at the main door. The doctor nodded and turned to Napoleon. “And Mr Napoleon Solo, it’s an honor to meet you.”</p>
<p>“Dr Wilcox, I presume,” Napoleon shook hands with him. “If you were so kind to start with this meeting, I’d be really grateful. Time is pressing, you know.”</p>
<p>“Yes, I know,” Dr Wilcox gave him an enigmatic smile and pointed at the two ID cards with their names lying on the table. “Please, be so kind as to keep these on yourselves during your stay in the institute.” He turned to Napoleon and nodded. “Time is pressing?  I’m glad you put it that way. Precisely, this is a matter of time. Gentlemen,” he signed for the four of them to gather in front of a green table with a monitor and a keyboard, shining under the fluorescent tubes on the ceiling.  “Here she is, my latest creation… Aiónios!”</p>
<p>“Eternal, that’s Greek,” Illya translated for Napoleon.</p>
<p>“I know that.” Napoleon gave the doctor a skeptical look, although he still did his best to stay interested. They were there to evaluate this new device and see how useful it may be for the organization. So far, the so-called dangerous weapon was no more than a panel of flickering lights and three alarm clocks. Judging from the THRUSH agents’ faces, he was not the only one thinking that this doctor was nothing but a science fiction enthusiast. Only Illya seemed to be hooked by the presentation, as he walked around the table, identifying every single element. </p>
<p>“Is this an electron microscope?”</p>
<p>“Originally. I modified it to measure protons.” The doctor moved closer to the only one who looked genuinely interested. </p>
<p>“Protons? Are you studying the quantum leap of protons?” </p>
<p>“You’re very intuitive, ” Dr. Wilcox chuckled, trying to contain his excitement. “However, I’m using the concept for more practical intentions.” He handed him a folder with notes. “As you can see, we’re getting closer to understanding the behavior of subatomic particles in controlled quantum leaps. I’m inclined to believe that with the appropriate adjustments, we could defy time and space.”</p>
<p>“Time travel is physically impossible.” Illya straightened up to look at the doctor eye to eye.</p>
<p>“Theoretically, it is not that impossible, Mr Kuryakin. I believe you mentioned something like that in one of your dissertations at the Sorbonne.”</p>
<p>At this point, Illya’s expression changed from scientific curiosity to confusion. He would have kept the discussion going but Napoleon was already behind him.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry for the interruption but I still have more immediate questions. What does this machine do exactly? Our budget for prototype machines of mass destruction is very limited.” Napoleon smiled politely, letting the doctor see that he was not open for negotiations.  </p>
<p>“I understand your position. We’re closer to the final steps, though. You’ll see… but it’s okay. Somehow, I was expecting that reaction.” Dr Wilcox smiled, putting all his papers on the table, and turned to the other two men in the room. “I suppose you gentlemen share Mr Solo’s opinion?” </p>
<p>“Absolutely,” said the taller of the two men, without consulting with his partner. “I don’t think our agency is interested in this kind of experiments.”</p>
<p>“They agree with us, that’s a matter of concern,” Napoleon whispered. Illya barely nodded, studying the papers from a distance. “Illya?”</p>
<p>“How far are you in your observations, Dr Wilcox?”</p>
<p>Napoleon kept quiet, although he did not like how Illya insisted on the subject. If it were up to him he would have closed the subject already. </p>
<p>“Well, Mr Kuryakin, you’d be surprised.” Dr Wilcox put a halt to the discussion with an enigmatic smile. “Gentlemen, please, I’m rather sorry that you all have come in vain. As an avant garde scientist I’m used to rejection. No hard feelings… I prepared a light refreshment for you all in the conference room.  At least, let me be the perfect host.”</p>
<p>He showed them the way into a wide room, with a large table, where they found the refreshments. This was a typical conference room, with nothing different from others that Napoleon and Illya had seen before. Floor to wall windows provided a nice view of the sunset through the trees in front of the building. </p>
<p>Illya looked restless, standing in one corner as he watched everyone in the room. Napoleon noticed that and walked towards him with a glass of champagne in his hand.</p>
<p>“What do you think?”</p>
<p>“That something is not right. It was only one essay and I never published it.”</p>
<p>“Ah, what are you talking about? The time travel theory?”</p>
<p>“Most theories only need time to be dismissed or validated…”</p>
<p>“You’re not saying that that thing can actually work, are you? I don’t know how I would feel about that.” Napoleon kept his voice down and turned around, pretending to drink from his glass, while watching the men at the other side of the room. “Or how I feel about them. They don’t look like scientists, do they? I didn't even see them taking notes.”</p>
<p>Illya frowned, alarmed at having been so completely distracted by Dr Wilcox’s theories. “What do you think they’re up to?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know, but we can go and ask,” Napoleon set his glass on the buffet table and walked towards the men. </p>
<p>There was no warning in their demeanor. The tallest of them produced a pistol and shot Napoleon, who was still at some distance from them, right through the forehead.  </p>
<p>The first seconds were confusing as Illya processed the sight of Napoleon falling down heavily to the floor. He instinctively took out  his pistol, but he was not aiming at anyone. Napoleon was the only thing he could see,  and he only wanted to make sure that he was still alive. He rushed to his side and checked the pulse on Napoleon’s neck. Nothing, he could not feel or hear anything. Napoleon’s eyes were fixed and empty, and the hole in his forehead barely bled. </p>
<p>He knew that Dr Wilcox was behind him and the THRUSH agents were still at the other side of the room. The man that had shot Napoleon had his gun in his hand and Illya was sure that the next shot would be for him. Without giving them a chance to guess his next move, Illya rolled over, jumped to his feet and ran to the door. There was another shot, but he only felt the bullet grazing his ankle. He was not going out, or calling for help, no one could do anything for Napoleon now. No one, but him. </p>
<p>******************</p>
<p>The laboratory was still open; Illya got in and locked the door. His ankle hurt but there was no time to check it. He stared at the computer, pondering whether he should use it at all. Tampering with time even in theory was never a wise idea. And it probably wouldn’t work anyway. The alternative was to call for reinforcements, follow the rules and let things take their normal course. Then, Napoleon’s death would be real and Illya would have to live with this unanswered question. The worst had happened already, he had nothing to lose. The panel flickered again, as though pressing him to make up his mind. </p>
<p>“One step beyond, you know you want to do it,” Illya whispered. He would have loved to have  more time to make a cold blooded, well-thought decision, but inside he knew he wanted to do this. Illya had the solution in front of him, right here, right now.</p>
<p>One purposeful breath and he was ready. He studied the components, trying to remember all the specifics he had seen in the blueprints. “Okay, keep focused.” He chose one clock and turned the minute hand backwards, just enough to prevent the shooting from happening. “There, we don’t want to cause a big wrinkle in time.” </p>
<p>Illya opened the door and stepped out. His ankle still hurt, he did not feel different and all his memories from the shooting were still there. However, the hallway was quiet and no one had come after him. At the moment, the chances of being successful were 50/50.<br/>
He was halfway to the conference room when he heard the shot. The world was collapsing again around him. He did not bother to go inside, he just turned around and went back to the laboratory. He locked the door behind him. There wasn’t much time before they followed him. </p>
<p>***************</p>
<p>Illya made new calculations, he wrote the probabilities, dividing and multiplying feverishly until it sounded reasonable enough. He hesitated before adjusting the clocks.  Sending himself and Napoleon too far back in time could be counterproductive. It could only result in forgetting the incident and repeating it in the end. There was no use in going to the beginning of this day either, so he made his calculations hoping to get in a better position to stop the shooting without altering the timeline too much. </p>
<p>Again, things did not look any different, he was limping now and he still remembered everything. He opened the door to the conference room right at the moment the TRUSH agent reached for something in his inner pocket. Without waiting, Illya took out his pistol and shot at him. The other agent saw his partner fall and got his gun to shoot at both Illya and Napoleon. Illya ducked behind a chair only to see Napoleon fall down again. </p>
<p>“No, no,” he whispered before running out and towards the laboratory. Illya did not understand what was going on. The facts had been altered and yet, the outcome remained the same. “The hell with time travel, this has to work now!” Illya adjusted the clocks again; he just needed to gain a few minutes to move Napoleon to a safer place and think about what to do next.<br/>
**********</p>
<p>Illya walked, or limped, determinedly into the conference room. He was not going to wait for the shooting; he just needed time to drag Napoleon away from the THRUSH agents before warning him about them. In his head, he knew that he had done everything possible. This could be his last chance and so far, everything looked normal… or almost.</p>
<p>The THRUSH agent was aiming at Napoleon with his pistol, but he was not moving. In fact, no one or nothing, for all that matter, was moving at all. </p>
<p>“Well? What’s going on here?” Illya limped around, watching the men and Napoleon, who were completely frozen in place. Dr Wilcox was at the end of the table, contemplating his glass of champagne. Everyone looked normal, but still, like statues in a museum. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Illya moved closer to Napoleon, studying his eyes, wondering if he could see him. However, Napoleon’s eyes were fixed on something in front of him, something beyond Illya. </p>
<p>“A stopwatch, the last clock is a stopwatch…” That could be an exciting element to examine thoroughly if the timeline had not been altered beyond all laws of physics. Illya was getting tired of running up and down, tearing apart the fabric of time. He moved to the buffet table and took a glass of champagne. He gulped it down before turning to Napoleon. “You have no idea of the day I’ve been having… I know, you don’t care…  What are you looking at, anyway?” he frowned, following Napoleon’s gaze across the room. “Yeah, he’s not shooting at you, don’t worr-” He gasped as he walked in a straight line towards the man with the gun. In the middle of the room, floating on the air, was the bullet that was destined to hit Napoleon’s head. Illya touched it but couldn’t grab it. </p>
<p>Illya turned and tried to tackle his partner to get him out of the way. Unfortunately, colliding with Napoleon felt like hitting a wall head-on. He rolled on his back, staring at the ceiling, pondering what had gone wrong this time. “Time… time stands still… everything stands still… you’re not more than a bunch of inert molecules. Only time can move you…” He sat up, giving deep thought to what he had just said. “Only time… one more time.”</p>
<p>Behind him, the door slammed open as someone left the room. Illya sprung up, as he was caught by surprise. The agents were there, and Napoleon and- “Dr Wilcox?” he grunted and ran after him.<br/>
*******<br/>
Illya leaned on the table, catching his breath before he tried to adjust the clocks again. His ankle was pounding but he was too busy to care. He studied the clocks and all the changes he had done before. “Are you going to shoot me now?” he asked Dr Wilcox, who was sitting by the whiteboard.</p>
<p>“It hasn't been my intention to do you any harm, Mr Kuryakin.”</p>
<p>“How did you do this? How can I undo it?”  </p>
<p>“Why do you keep trying? I  thought that you above all of them should know what my work means.”</p>
<p>“I know what it means… I’m using it to save my partner.” Illya started to work on the clocks again.</p>
<p>“Do you realize that every time you go under, another reality is created? How many are there now? Two? Three? How many more are you going to make? Ten thousand? Every reality ends with Mr Solo’s death… you must know this is not working.” </p>
<p>“It will… I know what I have been doing wrong. I can correct it now,”</p>
<p>“Can you? Are you sure?” The doctor moved towards him. “Illya, I built this machine thinking of people like you. You’re the only person who has really appreciated it. You haven’t disappointed me, but coming back over and over again is a desperate attempt to change fate. Even you must know that this is useless and all these realities are here to stay too. You are altering every future in the universe.”</p>
<p>“No!” Illya slammed the panel, realizing that Dr Wilcox may be right. He turned to him<br/>
“You knew? What is that about people like me? I’m just an agent… an underpaid agent.”</p>
<p>“Well, I did my research among THRUSH and UNCLE agents. Your qualifications are impressive. I thought that if you understood my project, that it would be easier to get your agency interested. Unfortunately for you, THRUSH came up with an offer that I could not refuse.”</p>
<p>“Did that offer include killing Napoleon in the process?”</p>
<p>“Yes, and no…My first intention was to negotiate with a governmental agency, but you saw Mr Solo’s reaction. My computer predicted that. so I needed something dramatic to make you activate the machine. What better endorsement than a practical trial, right? What I couldn’t predict was all this frenzy. I thought you would stop after the second attempt.” </p>
<p>“You made a pact with our enemies to kill Napoleon Solo just to get me to use this computer?” Illya was angry, but he needed to finish his work before getting into an argument. </p>
<p>“I was curious about what you would do with this unique dilemma… and I wasn’t disappointed. You think that my machine can actually work and I think so too. A few adjustments to the time panel, and we both can change history, we can bring Mr Solo back. Maybe not today, but I promise you that it will work.” He came closer.  “Just tell your agency about all of this. I’m ready to sell it at a good price.”</p>
<p>“If you have read my files, you’d know that I would never succumb to blackmail.” Illya stopped to glare at the doctor. “Tell me one thing. How come I haven’t been affected every time I set the machine? How come my ankle still hurts? ... How come you haven’t been affected either?”</p>
<p>Dr Wilcox shrugged, pointing at Illya’s ID. “I saved your data and mine in microdots so the computer could read them and ignore them during the leaps. Time has been changing around you… us. Of course, that only could work in this building, but we could try to give it a wider range. Possibilities are infinite.”</p>
<p>“You thought of everything,” Illya snorted.</p>
<p>“As much as the law of unpredictability allowed me. I have done it before, with my aids and very competent people, but I must confess that sometimes I had to guess what your next step would be.”  </p>
<p>“The law of unpredictability?” Illya stopped for a moment, giving time for this to sink in. </p>
<p>“Yes, you're trying to move back time and not giving up even when the endeavour is useless.” The doctor sighed, staring at his notes on top of the computer. “I ran all the possible case scenarios… you keep surprising me.”</p>
<p>Illya made a pause to consider Dr Wilcox’s words. “We all can be unpredictable sometimes… right?” Without giving him time to respond, Illya darted over to snatch the doctor’s ID card. Then, he pushed the last button he had left to try and everything vanished around him.<br/>
**************</p>
<p>“Is that the place? But it’s on fire.” Napoleon watched as they parked next to several firefighter units. The fire was concentrated on one side of the building, where he guessed the laboratory was. “What do you think happened?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know, it’s a laboratory… something must have exploded.” Illya smirked, hiding the satisfaction in his voice. He kept his eyes on the man with the white gown that was talking to the captain of the fire brigade. </p>
<p>“Let’s talk to that man, shall we?” Napoleon walked towards him and introduced himself. “Dr Wilcox, I suppose. I’m Napoleon Solo and this is my partner Illya Kuryakin.”</p>
<p>“Ah, yes,” the doctor hesitated, shaking Napoleon’s hand. “I’m sorry, I just had a déjà vu,” he gave them a faint smile as he contemplated the event inside the building. “You’re the men from UNCLE. You’re very punctual… I’m sorry I don’t have much left to show you.”</p>
<p>“I understand, but what happened? Sabotage maybe?” Napoleon glanced at the pair of men in black, sitting in their car at a safe distance. </p>
<p>“No, I don’t understand. I ran some tests this morning and everything seemed to work fine. This was so…”</p>
<p>“Unexpected?” Napoleon turned to look at Illya, who was picking something up off the ground.  He limped towards the building. There was something in his eyes that seemed almost like frustration; but that did not make any sense. Napoleon gave the doctor some sort of condolences for the loss of his experiments and went after Illya.</p>
<p>“What do you have there?”</p>
<p>Illya barely paid any attention to the card he was fidgeting with. “Ah, nothing important.”</p>
<p>Napoleon took it to examine it better. “An ID?” He squinted but the writing had melted with the plastic. “It looks like something you could cut out from a box of cereal.” Instead of a smile from his friend, Napoleon got a smirk. “Illya, do you know anything I should know about this? I know how much you wanted to talk with Wilcox about quantum mechanics and all…”</p>
<p>“Napoleon, I don’t think I could find time to explain what Dr Wilcox’s work meant for all of us. It’s both a loss and a gain.”</p>
<p>“I don’t understand much about what he was doing here, but I thought you would be a little more disappointed. If I didn’t know you well, I’d say you’re rather happy?”</p>
<p>Illya lowered his head and smiled. “No, I am sorry, really. Dr Wilcox was ahead of his time, I’m afraid.”</p>
<p>“Ah, yeah… may I ask you something else? Why are you limping all of a sudden?”</p>
<p>Illya switched from one foot to the other, finding a less painful position. “I twisted my ankle getting out of the car, nothing serious.”</p>
<p>“Right now? Getting out of the car?” Napoleon stared at him inquisitively. “What’s going on here?”</p>
<p>“Nothing, I promise.” Illya sighed deeply, looking for a way to explain what had been happening through this long day. “I wouldn’t know where to start… things are okay now. Don’t ask me for a report, the paperwork would be awfully impossible.”</p>
<p>“Okay…” Napoleon nodded, still a little concerned about this case. “Just tell me, is the world in danger?”</p>
<p>The question took the Russian by surprise. Danger had been present all day long but somehow, Illya had only thought of one person all the time. “No, the world is not in danger,” he looked at Napoleon and smiled. “No one is in danger anymore.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s not comforting at all.” Napoleon turned to study the building and frowned, as a ghost of a memory fluttered through his mind. “Funny, I think I have been here before.”</p>
<p>“Déjà vu.”</p>
<p>“Quantum mechanics explains that, doesn’t it? It has to do with alternative realities.”</p>
<p>“You don’t want to go there, Napoleon. Please, we don’t need to think about other realities, it’s enough to live here and now. Believe me,” Illya turned around and limped back to the car. He was tired and sleepy. “It’s been a long day."</p>
<p>"It's only 9 in the morning. Are you sure you're okay?"</p>
<p>"Just drive me home," he yawned.</p>
<p>The End</p>
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